Nick Musuraca, who had already photographed Stranger on the Third Floor (a film that many consider to be the first Noir) plays on shadows and lights with the eye of a painter. Instead of raw keys of light and darkness, a true convention of Noir, he used a subtle diffuse light to reveal the details of the sets, and used the key lights to support it's dramatic effects. Each scene offers captivating and original visual effects compared to previous and next ones. Musuraca uses the entire monochromatic palette and creates the richest chiaroscuro ever photographed for a Film Noir.
unknown critic
on
Out of the Past
Jacques Tourneur 1947
